Trade at top of Mohammad's agenda

Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, yesterday arrived in Berlin, starting an official visit that involves discussions with counterparts from the German government.

He is expected to hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, which will boost relations between the two countries.

Discussions are expected to focus on a number of areas including increased trade flows, traffic rights for airlines, investment, aviation, science and technology.

Germany is one of the UAE's top trading partners with bilateral trade that reached 5.86 billion euros in 2006.

German exports to the UAE reached 5.4 billion euros in 2006.

UAE exports to Germany increased in 2006 by 25.7 per cent over 2005, reaching 469.3 million euros, while in 2007 German exports to the UAE reached 4.88 billion euros until October. German imports reached 336.8 million euros during the same period.

Germany has a sizeable population of Emirati students taking up medicine, military science and other fields of expertise.

The UAE and Germany have been holding regular high-level meetings after a partnership signed by the two countries in Berlin in April 2004 called for stronger bilateral relations.

Shaikh Mohammad is accompanied by a delegation of key government figures, which includes Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid, Deputy Ruler of Dubai; Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister; Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Department; and Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Economy.

Fact file
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• More than 6,000 UAE patients spend 90 million euros in Germany for treatment
• Trade between UAE and Germany is at 4.86 billion euros
• German investments in the UAE rose from 215 million euros in 2002 to 461 million euros in 2005
• UAE exports to Germany increased in 2006 by 25.7 per cent over 2005
• German woodworking exports to the Middle East crossed the 106-million-euro mark during the first 10 months of 2007
• There are also over a 100 Emirati students who study Germany
• There are 79 weekly flights to the UAE from German cities
• Emirates airline and Etihad Airways are seeking increased traffic rights to German cities